The Next Wave...?

July 28, 2011

The NEXT wave?

I was talking to the students the other day... And I was discussing the future of gaming. Not like 720, 3D games or hand-helds with kick ass screen that link to your console... but the future of games. Where are games going? Think out side of the box. What ARE the possibilities?

At the forefront of the technology trail being blazed is the video component of the games - Graphics. We all see the new processors pushing the boundaries of what is hot and realistic. Full 1080p HD streamed via wifi or HDMI cable to the sleek flat panels and 3D tvs... is this the end of the road? Will it be hollographic games? Will it be full immersion into the 3D universe that Blizzard or Infinity Ward places us into?

I am thinking no. Well.. maybe, but when I think future... I think BEYOND what we can imagine at the current time. Lets speculate on one thought I had. Lets look towards PC games as opposed to consoles for this one... Live action gaming. Yes. A real playable movie. Why not?

bear with me for a moment... it's a vision. not a proposal. Imagine for a moment you can control a human (not really, still an actor on screen) and when you move the controller, the human figure on the real life set moves across the room. Hit a button, the human jumps. Hit another button and he crouches. Strafe, dodge, slash, shoot, punch... you hit it (s)he does it. Navigate through a dungeon... and it's something Indiana may have ran through in Raiders or Temple, or perhaps one Harry and the gang ran through in one of the Potter films. Full immersion into a virtual universe EXACTLY like one you delve into during a movie. No more 3D models of your favorite characters in a 3D environment emulating the movie. Rather the actor signs onto a movie/game deal in that they act for the movie, and during production walk out the sequences for all of the movement using roto-scoping cameras, maybe some green screen tricks and such, but simultaneously while filming the game is created.

I'm sure the idea isn't original... it is wrought with difficulties and hang-ups. Production costs would be through the roof, but with the success of LA Noire showing us that hyper-realism is something people crave (though the story and game-play were only average to great, as opposed to exceptional like the graphics) it seems logical that the next bench mark would be a playable movie.

Now that is something I'll upgade a console for!

-C

Chad is an Adjunct Faculty member teaching video game design in Boston, MA. His school web site is http://www.phlume.com/EDU. He can be reached for comment there.